Daily Prayer

Thursday, 21 November 2013

Gestalt Therapy and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

Wilkie Au offers an insightful interaction between Gestalt Therapy and the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. While “essentially” different in intention and intended outcome, there is sufficient overlap to around process to make Gestalt Therapy an interesting conversation partner with respect to the practice of Ignatian spiritual direction and its practices of discernment and decision-making.

Without undermining the “rational”, Au highlights the critical importance of a “holistic”, “whole-person” (using ones mind yes, but equally importantly are practices and exercises that help us learn to listen to ones “body”, ones feelings, sensation etc) approach to discernment and decision-making.